Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi (19 June 1945-) is a Burmese stateswoman and politician who has served as President of the National League for Democracy since 18 November 2011. She is famed for being an opposition leader to the military government of Burma that has ruled since the 1960s, and she was jailed for many years for her opposition to the government. Because of her marriage to a non-Burmese man, she was not allowed to run for President of Burma in 2016, although the NLD won elections in a major victory for democracy in the troubled country.

Biography
Aung San Suu Kyi was born on 19 June 1945 in Rangoon, British Burma, the daughter of independence fighter Aung San, who was assassinated when she was only two years old. Her mother Khin Kyi became involved in politics, and Aung San Suu Kyi worked with the United Nations for three years, meeting her husband Dr. Michael Aris while there. She lived in other countries for many years, and in 1988 she returned to Burma, the same year as the 8888 Uprising. She gave a speech calling for a democratic government on 26 August 1988, but the Tatmadaw later asserted control of the government in September, and she entered politics to democratize the country. She helped in founding the National League for Democracy, and on 20 July 1989 she was imprisoned for her activism. She was released only on 13 November 2010 after much protesting and popular support for her, and her husband died of prostate cancer while she was under house arrest. Her husband was a national of the United Kingdom, so she was unable to run for President according to a section of the Constitution of Burma, but in 2016 the NLD won elections, allowing for democracy to be restored to the country; she achieved her goals without becoming president.